Chocolate Avocado Pudding Pops
August 17, 2018 by Nicole Collins
Happy Friday everyone!
Because you've hung in there and made it to Day 6, I've got a VERY special TREAT for you today!!!
I am sooooooo excited about today's recipe, because it almost feels like we're cheating. But in reality, we are staying 100% within the guidelines of the 21 Day plan!
While I've got cheating on the brain, let's talk about that for a second. We've been talking throughout the week of how I have some little cheats that I do while I'm on the plan. But, another thing that I 100% believe in is the cheat meal. This is not a theory of the 21 Day plan, but it's something that I read about once.
The theory behind the cheat meal is that you give your body a little taste of fat so that it doesn't think it needs to hoard the fat in your body while you're dieting. It also allows you to entertain a craving in a controlled setting so that you can eat what you desire, put it out of your brain, and get on with your life. It's funny, but as you progress and get comfortable with the lifestyle changes of eating on the 21 Day plan, you'll find that you want to eat less and less of those cheat items. I totally support the idea of one cheat meal per week.
You guys have done such an awesome job eating healthy with me this week, that I'm letting you have some dessert today. We're breaking out the chocolate in the most guilt free way possible.
Today, we're making Chocolate Avocado Pudding Pops!
We start by making a simple chocolate avocado pudding. Ripe avocados, coconut milk, vanilla, maple syrup, cocoa powder, and a pinch of salt get blended together in a food processor for an absolutely creamy and rich pudding. You could totally stop right here in the recipe. Put the pudding in the fridge with some plastic wrap on top to let it get nice and cold, and give it a dollop of fresh whipped cream when you're ready to serve. This will only last a day or two in the fridge if you leave it as pudding, because we're still dealing with avocados, after all. They're going to oxidize whether we want them to or not.
And, that's why we're adding the pudding to pop molds and letting them freeze in to pudding pops. We want to preserve this delicious mix so we can get our sweet fix whenever the craving hits.
Using cocoa powder is how we're able to get that rich chocolately flavor without a lot of sugar or carbs. The maple syrup adds the sweetness while the coconut milk adds the creaminess we'd be looking for in a some melted milk chocolate. And don't forget the salt! Avocados need salt regardless of how we're using them to help enhance their flavor.
This recipe is vegan, dairy free, and has no refined sugars. But, it's also decadent, fudgy, creamy, and absolutely hits the sweet spot. We get to have an incredible dessert, and it only costs us 1 blue container!
As much as I wish we could, we can't just live on dessert alone. So, here's the rest of our meal plan today:
Breakfast: Freezer Breakfast Burritos – 1 yellow, 1 red, 1 blue, 1 tsp
Snack: 1 apple with 2 tsp peanut butter – 1 purple, 2 tsp
Lunch: Southwestern Style Frittata – 2 red, 1 green, 1 blue, 1 tsp
Snack: Chocolate Avocado Pudding Pops – 1 blue
Dinner: Homemade TV Dinner – 1 yellow, 1 red, 1 green
I just want to note that our meal plan starts and ends with something that requires no more effort than turning on the microwave today. Friday is the easiest day of the week to cheat; because you've got paycheck money burning a hole in your pocket so you want to buy breakfast, and you're exhausted after a long week of working so you don't want to make dinner. I purposefully made sure to set you up for success today so you don't fall in to that trap.
Alright guys, we wrap up week 1 of our challenge tomorrow. Who's excited?!?!
Let's eat!
Chocolate Avocado Pudding Pops Serves: 8 Print
Ingredients:
2 ripe avocados, pitted and peeled
½ cup coconut milk
3 tbsp maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla
¼ tsp salt
¼ cup + 2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
Directions:
Add all ingredients to the bowl of a food processor. Process until smooth and creamy.
Fill popsicle molds with pudding mix. Insert popsicle sticks. Freeze for at least 4 hours. When ready to eat, run pop mold under hot water for a few seconds until the pudding pop easily releases from the mold. Enjoy!
Recipe notes:
*This chocolate avocado pudding is totally amazing if you leave it in it's pudding form. Place plastic wrap directly over the pudding and place it in the fridge to cool. Serve with a dollop of whipped cream. The chocolate avocado pudding will only keep in the fridge for a day or two. It's still avocado, after all.
*To easily fill the pop molds, I used a pastry bag and piped the pudding in to the molds. You could also snip the corner off of a ziploc bag. Then, tap the molds on the counter to help the pudding settle evenly in the mold.
*I typically use lite coconut milk for recipes, but I used full fat for this one. We need that extra little bit of creaminess from the full fat.
*These are the popsicle molds I use.
*Per serving, this recipe is 1 blue.
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